A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Hanging Tree -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[OliverK]

Warners controls a lot of 70mm films that need restoration and Blu-ray (or UHD). I would take 80 Days, then Ryan's Daughter myself.

As you know most of them have already been released so I would rule those out although I would love for Warner to revisit Mutiny on the Bounty. What remains unreleased are the 4 titles I mentioned or is there another one still missing?

 

[ArnoldLayne]

I watched the first half hour last night. One a scale of 1 to 10, I rate the video as WOW.
The fine grain and detail are incredible, just watch the leaves moving on distant trees- no smearing of detail. ahhh!

 

[Robert Crawford]

My BD is out for delivery so I'll be watching it in the next 24 hours.

 

[Matt Hough]

Mine came yesterday, and I had thought to watch it today but got sidetracked with something else. Tomorrow likely.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

Very fast delivery to Australia .. arrived 30 minutes ago.
Time to fire up the home projector and forget about the heatwave!

 

[Robert Crawford]

A great looking disc! Hell, after RAH's comments about the main title, I thought it would look much worse, but it's far better than some others from that time period.

 

[commander richardson]

Robert Harris

A few words about...™ The Hanging Tree -- in Blu-ray

The Hanging Tree is an interesting, and under-appreciated film, that I enjoy simply as a Gary Cooper picture, and as the film which introduced me to the term "sluice robber."

It's also the first time a cinema audience got to take gander at a gent named George Scott.

Technically, it's been a problematic film. Past home videos releases were less than stellar, and the wonderful folks at Warner Archive understood that and went for gold.

Underlying lit had fallen prey to the Abend decision, and had to be re-purchased by the studio. Because of underlying, the film was out of distribution for probably twenty years, and when it returned, it did so with mediocre elements.

Since prints were Technicolor, there was no IP...

So Warner Archive pulled the original camera negative into service, and it looks it. After a 4k scan, new color and clean-up, The Hanging Tree once again looks (and sounds) superb.

The fact that they were able to hide fade is a testament to the colorist.

The Hanging Tree is important for many reasons, but among the greatest is the outdoor cinematography courtesy of Ted McCord (The Sound of Music, The Treasure of The Sierra Madre, East of Eden).

Music is by that Steiner guy, who takes the main title theme, and blends it beautifully into the overall score, as he did with Casablanca.

Is there a downside.

I'm afraid there is.

The Main Title is a bit dupey. Not terrible, and may have always been that way, but once out of it, and into production photography, it's nirvana the rest of the way.

As an aside, director Delmer Daves became ill during the shoot and direction was taken over by...

Wait for it...

Karl Malden.

Color, densities, grain structure and black levels are gorgeous.

Support investments in restoration. Please purchase a dozen or so copies, and distribute to friends.

Image - 5

Audio - 5

4k Up-rez - 5

Pass / Fail - Pass

Upgrade from DVD - Absolutely!

Highly Recommended

I saw this yesterday and anyone not sure about the movie and so on I can report that the film is very good entertainment and the picture quality is outstanding in detail and is better than many new movie releases today...it is that good...10/10..

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I was very excited to watch this as it was a Gary Cooper western I do not think I had seen. Coming toward the end of his career it is an "adult" western that is more of a drama/romance than it is a shoot 'em up. Even though much is made about Doc Frail's skills with a gun...he actually does not show those skills off much in the film. Instead the focus is on the characters and their relationships to each other. The acting here is excellent and Cooper plays a man with a tragic and troubling past in such a way that you are not certain what sort of man he is. He appears to travel the west dispensing both medical care and vengeance at the end of his gun. So, he's kind of a conflicted fella that can either cure or kill you depending on his mood. Cooper is great a portraying both sides of this coin and the idea that something is constantly simmering within him beneath his surface. It's an interesting film because all of the characters are damaged in some way, not really likable and the west is depicted as a cruel place. The film is set in a gold mining camp in the wilderness that Doc Frail essentially describes as a cesspool where you will encounter the worst of humanity. The picture spends a good deal of time examining this idea of the different aspects of human behavior and basically how we have the capacity to be both brutal and gentle.

Along with Cooper the supporting cast are also wonderful. Malden is really good as a guy that is on the surface friendly and lacking in any social graces due to his life spent out in the wild wild west but also has the inclination to act on his worst instincts. As noted by Mr. Harris George C. Scott is here in his first feature film in a small role playing a drunken loon that spouts biblical nonsense and seems to feel that Doc Frail is some kind of demon.

In terms of how this looks on blu-ray well, you have that evaluation already from an authority much higher than me so I'll just say it sure was purty to look at in my home theater.

 

[Conrad_SSS]

Got mine Tuesday, but didn't get to watch it until last night. It is GORGEOUS.....and I had been thrilled to have the DVD that came out a few years ago, after years of not being able to see the film at all.


This is such a criminally underappreciated film. because everyone in it is so damned great, and the whole production is outstanding.

This Blu-ray is a wonder to behold.

 

[Matt Hough]

I watched this tonight. Another wonderful transfer and a very entertaining movie. Held my interest throughout especially with Cooper playing somewhat dour and threatening for much of the movie.

 

[avroman]

My "Nirvana"for a new Bluray or 4K, would be the 2nd 70mm movie of the modern era, 1956's
Michael Todd's "Around the World in 80 Days ".

 

[benbess]

Before I get Summer Stock, I felt I need to open any unwatched Warner Archive blu-rays sitting on my shelves, and so I'm now enjoying this trip back in time with Gary Cooper and the OCN.....

 

[benbess]

The Hanging Tree is a good movie, although there was one element of the ending I wasn't sure about. But if I were constructing a Gary Cooper festival for myself, I'd probably start with Wings from 1927 and then maybe end up with this one from 1959. There are a lot of movies in-between to choose from, but of the ones I've seen I'd probably pick....

The Virginian, 1929
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, 1936
The Plainsman, 1936
The Westerner, 1940
Meet John Doe, 1941
Sergeant York, 1941
Ball of Fire, 1941
The Pride of the Yankees, 1942
For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1943
Unconquered, 1947
The Fountainhead, 1949
High Noon, 1952
Garden of Evil, 1954
Vera Cruz, 1954
Friendly Persuasion, 1956

 

[AnthonyClarke]

And Billy Wilder's Love in the Afternoon...

 

[OliverK]

Add Design for Living (1933) and Man of the West (1958) and I am in.